Dynamic Currency Conversion

Welcome to Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)

Offer your international customers the ability to pay in their own currency. The receipt will show the amount in your currency, the customer's home currency and the conversion rate.
Customers will know exactly what they're paying for at the time of sale including all charges so that they'll see the same amount on their card statement when they get home.

We will manage the entire conversion process for you: from direct treasury exchange rates and transaction processing to back-end reconciliation, settlement, funding, and support.

Accepting DCC means the cardholder accepts today’s Elavon exchange rate, including commission and knows the final price at the time of purchase as it is displayed on the card machine and their receipt.

Declining DCC means the cardholder’s bank will convert the transaction at a later date using its exchange rate, plus commission and any other charges. The cardholder may not know this final amount until they see their statement.

Guide to maximising DCC

Guide for DCC cardholders

DCC currency list

DCC 2020 Update

The purpose of the below FAQ’s are to provide an overview of Dynamic Currency Conversion and the new EU legislation requirements which need to be delivered by 19 April 2020.

DCC stands for Dynamic Currency Conversion.

DCC is a service that gives international Mastercard, VISA and Diners customers the choice to pay in their home currency. The card schemes have a number of specific rules around what information needs to be presented to the customer before they make their choice of whether to accept or decline DCC and what information needs to be present on the customer receipt.

New EU legislation states that for any DCC transaction where the card is issued in the EEA* and the merchant is EEA-based, there will be a mark-up percentage displayed over the European Central Bank (ECB) rate. This will show cardholders how much more, as a percentage, they will pay for the conversion in comparison to the ECB base rate.

So, whenever a Merchant’s and Cardholder’s currencies are both from the EEA, all cardholders who attempt to pay with a card issued with a different currency to the Merchant settlement currency will need to have the rate be presented to them on the Point of Sale (POS) screen, showing the percentage over the ECB rate.

Additionally, the transaction receipt will also display this information for the Cardholders’ future reference.

These changes are being made to comply with Regulation (EU) 2019/518 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The regulation introduces certain charges to cross-border payments in the EU and currency conversion charges (“CBPR2”).

One of the provisions of CBPR2 requires that Merchants providing DCC services at the point of sale should provide additional information on charges for these services to the Cardholder before the initiation of any payment transaction.

Two important scheme rules on DCC are:

A customer must be shown how to accept or reject DCC, so it must be clear what buttons on the terminal or PIN pad to press.

A customer may accept or reject DCC by selecting a “Yes/No” or “Green/Red” button as the only options.

A compliant DCC customer screen should include:

Local amount and currency

DCC amount and currency

Exchange rate

Mark-up percentage must be displayed directly underneath the exchange rate line

A clear question e.g. “Select Currency”

A clear way for the customer to either accept or decline DCC

The total DCC charges for the transactions should be expressed as a percentage mark-up over the latest available ECB rate (the mark-up).

Your Elavon POS technical solution will automatically identify situations where the card currency and local currency both belong to the EEA and will adjust the POS screen display and receipt display accordingly.

If you have a device provided by a Third Party, please contact them directly to know when these new updates will be available. Please note that Elavon has provided all partners with the necessary tools to update their devices.

If your terminal supports colour and your terminal has a touch screen, then we recommend that the selection can be made on screen by touching one of the flags.

Currently, the screen displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, if the Merchant and Cardholder currencies both belong to the EEA, the ‘mark-up over the ECB rate’ will be displayed as follows:

If your terminal has buttons under the currency selection on screen, then these buttons should be used to allow the customer to make their selection.

Currently, the screen displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, if the Merchant and Cardholder currencies both belong to the EEA, the ‘mark-up over the ECB rate’ will be displayed as follows:

If your terminal has no buttons under the currency selection on screen, then we recommend that the number buttons 1 and 2 are used (1 to decline DCC, 2 to accept DCC).

Currently, the screen displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, if the Merchant and Cardholder currencies both belong to the EEA, the ‘mark-up over the ECB rate’ will be displayed as follows:

Currently, the transaction receipt displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, for any DCC transaction where the card is issued in the EEA and the DCC Currency is EEA, the mark-up over ECB rate will be displayed as follows:

If you have an Elavon POS terminal you do not need to take any action. We will automatically update your terminal to comply with the regulations.

However, if your POS is integrated with your till system, and printing is handled from the till’s printer, your ePOS provider may need to carry out some development work to handle this mandated change. You should instruct your ePOS to complete this development work on your behalf if necessary. Additionally if your device is a Spire model or Verifone Evo we will contact you closer to the time with next steps.

Elavon has provided all partners with the necessary tools to update their devices, so if you have a device provided by a Third Party, please contact them directly to know when new updates will be available.

The ‘DCC mark-up % over ECB’ rate needs to be displayed to Cardholders by 19 April 2020.

No. The ‘DCC mark-up % over ECB’ rate will be displayed for comparison purposes only. There will be no change to how your customers (Cardholders) are charged.

If your POS technical solution is provided directly by Elavon, your DCC Rebate with Elavon will stay at the same level as before.

Should you have a solution provided by a Third Party and your provider does not become compliant by 19 April 2020, your DCC Rebate may be lowered by 55%. This is a result of the EEA currencies being removed, as Elavon will automatically stop processing DCC on EEA currencies if your terminal is not compliant. Please contact your Third Party provider directly to ensure new updates will be available before 19 April 2020. Elavon has provided all partners with the necessary tools to update their devices.

This change is a result of new EU Regulation starting from 19^th of April and is required by law, so it cannot be opted out from. Elavon must be fully compliant with the EU regulations as outlined above.

Please rest assured that your DCC Rebate rate and all DCC-related charges applicable to your customers (Cardholders) do not change.

* EEA Countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Euro Zone, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, UK

Frequently Asked Questions

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is a service that enables international Visa® and MasterCard® cardholders in over 60 currencies the choice to pay the bill in their own currency rather than the currency of the country that they are visiting.

When you present your card at the till, the point-of-sale recognises automatically if your debit or credit card from Visa® or MasterCard® qualifies for DCC. You will then be asked whether you want to pay in your home currency. The terminal converts the local currency to your home currency. The transaction is processed as usual and your receipt displays both currencies as well as the exchange rate. No additional foreign exchange commission charges apply.

All you need to know about Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) on contactless cards and mobile wallets.

With contactless and now mobile wallet growing in popularity, it is important to consider how to handle these types of transactions for currency conversion.

With a contactless payment, there is no need for your customer to put their card into the terminal and enter their PIN. Your customer simply holds their card against the terminal for payment, often referred to as ‘Touch & Pay’.

A mobile wallet is a credit or debit card stored on an app on a mobile phone or other digital device, such as a tablet. It replaces the physical card with a digital format that can be used to make payments on contactless enabled terminals. Mobile wallet payments work similar to contactless card payments – simply ‘Touch & Pay’ on the terminal.

Currently the contactless limit is £30, this means that a transaction up to this amount can be processed by simply holding the card over the terminal. There are some cards and mobile wallet apps that allow customers to use contactless payments above this limit. Your Elavon terminal will automatically recognise these cards/mobile wallet app and process the transactions as contactless transactions.

Transactions under £30:

DCC is available for transactions under the contactless limit, when the card is inserted in to the terminal as a Chip & PIN transaction.

If the customer would like to pay in their own currency using DCC, they must enter their card into the terminal and currency conversion will be prompted. Offer DCC to eligible cardholders, by advising of the exchange rate, the local and home currency price, along with the associated charges. Then advise the customer how to complete the transaction by pressing the accept/reject DCC button.

If the customer would rather ’Touch & Pay’, DCC will not be offered

Transactions over £30:

The majority of transactions over £30 are processed as Chip & PIN transactions.

Only cards that are enabled for higher value contactless transactions can be processed in a contactless manner and DCC will be offered for these transactions

All you need to know to take DCC payments by phone and email

Currency conversion can be offered to customers who provide their card details over the phone or by secured encrypted email. This may occur when taking a deposit from a customer or a customer is settling their final bill. No matter what the scenario, when the customer is not present (sometimes referred to as CNP transaction) there are guidelines to follow to ensure all customers are offered DCC in the correct manner.

Virtual cards received by email

Virtual cards are usually supplied by hotel reservation internet organisations such as Expedia or Booking.com. Once a customer has made an online reservation through one of these sites, you will be contacted by the hotel reservation company with a virtual card, loaded with a specific amount to settle the customers bill. When processing these cards for payment, you must follow your company’s guidelines on applying DCC to these card types.

Taking the customer card details by phone

At the stage in the call with the customer when you are entering the customer card details on the Elavon payment solution, you will be prompted to offer currency conversion. At this point you should:

Explain

Explain to the customer that, Dynamic Currency Conversion is a service whereby the transaction can be converted today into their home currency at the fixed exchange rate which gives a final price in the customer’s home currency today. Or that the customer can instead, leave the transaction in the local currency and the transaction will be converted by the customer’s bank at their exchange rate, plus commission and any fees that apply.

Tell

Tell the customer each of the following:

i. The sale amount in your local currency and the converted amount in their home currency

ii. The exchange rate on the screen

iii. That this Elavon exchange rate includes a margin (usually 3.5%) on rates provided by U.S. Bank

Ask

Ask the customer whether, based on the information you have provided, they would like to agree the final price in their home currency today (with DCC) or whether they would like to leave the transaction in the local currency (without DCC). Select the correct option on the Elavon payment solution depending on the customer’s response.

Send

Send the customer the final bill by email or post. If the customer accepted DCC, you must also email or post them a copy of the receipt from the terminal which shows all the DCC information.

Motivate your team

Inform your team about the benefits of implementing best practice for currency conversion with your customers.

Simply steps include:

Lead by example, when you offer currency conversion to customers

Support your team with DCC guides and manuals above such as:

Staff Poster

DCC Training Guide

Guide to Elavon Best Rate

Monitor your results, by department, on elavonconnect.com and share this performance information with your team

Monitor DCC activity

Regularly check whether the team are offering the benefits of currency conversion in their conversations with every customer. The customer conversation should include one of these DCC benefits:

Final price known

Today’s fixed exchange rate

Elavon Best Rate

Having regular team conversations regarding customers questions on currency conversions leads to a team that feel confident talking to customers about currency conversion.

Check out the staff poster for tips on how to answer customer questions.

Reasons to offer DCC to all eligible customers

They’ll know the exact amount in home currency

Improved customer experience

They can track available card balance

Increase business revenues

Once you have implemented the steps to grow your DCC conversion rates you can track your DCC performance via your monthly statement or online at anytime.

Why track DCC performance?

By keeping track of your DCC conversion rate you will know the revenue you earned and also the additional revenue you could have earned.

How to track DCC performance on Elavon Connect

Available exclusively online are two great reports that will give you valuable insights into your businesses DCC performance:

DCC Terminal Performance Report

The DCC Terminal Performance Report shows you the volume of DCC eligible transactions by Point of Sale. This enables you to track and compare the DCC performance in different areas of the business and look at specific time periods. Tracking performance at a terminal level may provide valuable insights, such as a staff training requirements.

Volume per Card Issuing Country Report

The Volume per Card Issuing Country Report enables you to see where your customers are coming from. This insight can assist targeting new business in specific location or ensure you have the right language support for staff management.

How to access these reports

The quickest and easiest way to view your statement and reports is on our comprehensive online reporting tool called Elavon Connect. If you are not registered, you can do so at any time by going to elavonconnect.com

The receipt will show the amount in your currency, the customer's home currency and the conversion rate.

Customers will know exactly what they're paying for at the time of sale including all charges so that they'll see the same amount on their card statement when they get home.

We will manage the entire conversion process for you: from direct treasury exchange rates and transaction processing, to back-end reconciliation, settlement, funding, and support.

You provide your international customers with an extra service as they can pay in their own home currency. In addition, you gain additional sales potential and even increase profitability as Elavon will rebate a share of the conversion rate to you. DCC doesn’t carry any additional activation fees or monthly minimums. Elavon’s DCC service is transparent and effortless as Elavon handles the entire DCC process from start to finish which means that you have a single point of contact for all your service needs. Furthermore you may reduce chargebacks and disputes as there are no more exchange rate surprises for your customers when they receive the credit card statement.

If you pay in a foreign currency, you will always have to pay exchange rates. DCC provides full disclosure of the exchange rate which allows you to assess the competitiveness of the rate at the point-of-sale; which is more information than credit card issuers provide. In addition, you benefit from Elavon’s Best Rate Guarantee. If you obtain a better exchange rate on another transaction on the same day from your card issuer, Elavon will refund the difference.

They know the final price in their own currency

They get today’s exchange rate locked in

There are no exchange rate surprises when their statement arrives

Their transaction is covered with the Elavon Best Rate program

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